A peach of a mistake

Lente, lente currite noctis equi. It only seems five minutes ago that I was devoting this column to the most important intellectual problem in the western canon — the oenophile’s equivalent of the Matterhorn — which red wine to drink with grouse. But the immortal gods are relentless; Phoebus Apollo has spurred on the seasons and, once again, a shy young grouse graces my plate. To eat one so soon after the Twelfth — is this not culinary paedophilia? Should I not be on a register?

Well, gentle reader, I overcame my inhibitions, especially as the succulent infant, compensating in sweetness for the grosser tastes of hanging, was accompanied by a Vosne-Romanée 2002, Premier Cru les Rouges, Dme Jean Grivot. In tribute to the wine, the conversation turned to the late Auberon Waugh. In his era, Burgundy could be a very different drink. Pinot noir is a great and subtle grape.